“It seemed as if I heard the impact of a bullet on the enemy’s head”: what exploits did Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Zaitsev become famous for? Vasily Zaitsev - legendary sniper, hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Zaitsev hero of the Battle of Stalingrad briefly

The famous memoirs of the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev, who became famous during the Battle of Stalingrad, were published in Spain. They caused a controversial reaction in society, and the film “Enemy at the Gates” was made based on them.

“Use every cartridge wisely, Vasily,” the father instructed his son when they went together to hunt wolves in the taiga. He used the experience acquired then in Stalingrad in relation to other wolves - in human form, but also gray. “Every day I killed 4 to 5 Germans,” he would write later. Chilling memoirs of sniper Vasily Zaitsev (1915-1991), Hero Soviet Union, one of the most famous representatives of this difficult and terrible profession. Published in Spain by Crítica, they tell the reader about the brutal battle waged by snipers during the Second World War. We find ourselves in the very heart of a brutal battle when a gunman sitting in cover sees the eyes of the man he is about to kill. Memoirs of a direct participant in those events allow us to look into inner world, follow the actions of the fighters, who always inspired insurmountable fear and some kind of unhealthy worship. In a word, to lift that mystical veil that always surrounds the sniper.

The memoirs of Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev tell how a sniper acted during the Battle of Stalingrad, on whose personal account there were 242 killed Germans, including 11 enemy snipers (the destruction of enemy snipers was one of the priorities). The dramatic events in which Zaitsev participated formed the basis of the film “Enemy at the Gates,” directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Historians such as Antony Beevor believe that some of the sniper's story, including the lengthy and intense duel with an experienced German sniper sent specifically to eliminate Zaitsev (which is the basis of the plot), is pure fiction. Be that as it may, memories are most interesting description brutal and bloody battle in Stalingrad and read with bated breath.

In one episode, Zaitsev orders his group, consisting of three pairs of snipers, not to shoot at German officers who, thinking that they are safe, are washing themselves near a trench. “They’re just lieutenants,” he says. “If we swat a small fish, a fat fish will never stick its head out.” The next day they returned to their original position. We decided not to touch the soldier who was leaning out. And this is where those they were waiting for appear. A colonel accompanied by a sniper with a wonderful rifle, a major with a Knight's Cross framed by oak leaves and another colonel smoking cigarettes with a long and elegant cigarette holder. “Our shots rang out. We aimed for the head, as it is written in the training manual, and four fascists fell to the ground, giving up the ghost.” There was also a case when he shot at German officer, who had an Iron Cross on his chest. “I pulled the trigger and the bullet went through the award. The German fell back, spreading his arms wide.”

Zaitsev begins his memoirs with a story about his childhood. His grandfather was a hereditary Ural hunter and gave him his first gun. When going hunting, he lubricated himself with badger fat so that he would not be smelled by him. While hunting wolves, he learned to follow the scent and sit in ambush, which would later help him “in the fight against other two-legged predators that invaded our homeland.” The future sniper had a good education. He graduated from a construction technical school and accounting courses, and worked as an insurance inspector.

In 1937 he was drafted into the army and assigned to the Pacific Fleet as a sailor, and from then on he always proudly wore his vest under his military uniform. Zaitsev was eager to go into battle, asked to be assigned to a sniper company and, already as a foreman, on September 21, 1942 he ended up in Stalingrad. It was like hell. He will write in his diary that there was a thick smell of fried meat in the air.

In his first fight, when he runs out of ammunition, the short and broad-faced Zaitsev, not at all like Jude Law, who played him, engages the German in hand-to-hand combat and kills him. Here we see the war exactly as it is: “Eventually he stopped resisting and I smelled a sickening smell. By dying, the fascist also shit himself.”

During the defense of the famous Red October plant, it experiences difficult moments. There is a so-called “war of the rats”, when the enemy is hiding in the basements and sewers of the destroyed city. At the end of October, a colonel saw how Zaitsev destroyed an enemy machine gun crew consisting of three people with three shots from an ordinary soldier’s rifle. “Give him a sniper rifle,” the colonel ordered. They brought Moisin Nagant 91/30 to Zaitsev, and the colonel told him: “There are already three of them. Now keep score." So he became a sniper and got a taste for it: “I liked being a sniper and having the right to choose an object; when fired, it seemed to me that I heard the bullet piercing the enemy’s skull.” Zaitsev hits from a long distance - 550 meters or more. The sight allows you to clearly see the target.

“You know if he shaved, you see the expression on his face, you watch him hum something to himself. And while your subject runs his hand across his forehead or tilts his head to adjust his helmet, you look for the best point to shoot. He doesn’t even suspect that he only has a few seconds left to live.” There are no doubts, no remorse. “Putting the sight between his eyes was easy. I pulled the trigger, it twitched for a few seconds and froze motionless.”

Zaitsev portrays Soviet soldiers exclusively in a heroic and noble light, and the Germans as cruel: they finish off the wounded with flamethrowers or throw them to be eaten by dogs. For a sniper, fascists are “snakes” that wriggle when he presses them to the ground with his foot.

The memoirs contain a lot of advice to snipers (Zaitsev later became an instructor). A spring or spring is a good place to shoot at the enemy. After the shot, immediately change your position to avoid detection.

It takes no more than two seconds for a shooter to aim and pull the trigger, but surveillance and camouflage can take hours or even days. You have to become invisible. Patience is the key to success. Contrary to popular belief, snipers do not act alone, but in pairs and even groups, using various kinds of bait and dummies to lure the enemy into a trap.

An entire chapter of the book is devoted to the famous duel, which is about in the film Enemy at the Gates. The memoirs say that a captured German soldier reported that the German High Command, worried about the mounting losses, sent a certain Major Koenings, director of the Wehrmacht sniper school located near Berlin, to Stalingrad with the sole task of eliminating the famous Russian marksman.

A German and a Russian sniper (played by Ed Harris in the film) play a deadly game. As a result, Zaitsev manages to outwit and kill German ace. He drags his corpse out of hiding and hands it over to the division commander along with the rifle and documents. The supposed sight of this alleged (and defeated) German sniper is on display at the Museum of the Armed Forces in Moscow.

“There has never been a German sniper major named Koenings,” Beevor, who studied this issue in detail in his famous book “Stalingrad,” said in a conversation with me. He is not mentioned either in official German or Soviet sources. “I have studied all the sniper reports about the Battle of Stalingrad available in the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense in Podolsk, and I can say with complete confidence that the famous duel between a German and a Soviet sniper never happened. If it really took place, it would certainly have been reflected in the reports, since Soviet propaganda would certainly have taken advantage of such an opportunity. The whole story was invented after the Battle of Stalingrad.”

Beevor recalls that Anno invited him to view his painting “in the vain hope that I would not be too critical; I warned him in advance about my position. The French director bought the rights to the book by William Craig, which formed the basis of the film. And Craig believed the propaganda story about the sniper duel and the stories of Tanya Chernova (played by Rachel Weiss in the film) that she, too, was a sniper and the shooter’s lover. Poor Zaitsev, the army political workers used him for their own purposes, completely rewriting his biography and turning it into a legend. All this led to the fact that after the war he became depressed and began to drink.”

In reality, the historian notes, Zaitsev's exploits were greatly exaggerated, and he was not even the best Soviet sniper at Stalingrad. And the best was Sergeant Anatoly Chekhov (not the most suitable surname for someone engaged in such a dangerous profession), another hero of the urban war, whom Vasily Grossman interviewed and even accompanied during a combat mission on Mamayev Kurgan, where the most fierce battles took place to see how it works. Unlike Zaitsev, whom Grossman also knew personally, Chekhov, who used something like a silencer, looked not at faces, but at insignia. On the first day of fighting he killed nine Germans; in the second - 17, and in eight days - 40. In total, during the Battle of Stalingrad, Chekhov eliminated 256 enemy troops. In 1943, near Kursk, he lost both legs. Other famous Soviet snipers were Ivan Sidorenko, who set a kind of record by eliminating 500 German soldiers. Five more shooters accounted for more than 400 killed Germans. The famous female sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko destroyed 309 enemy soldiers and officers. After the end of the war she became a historian.

Grossman did not write anything about any long duel, but he did describe a fight between Zaitsev and a German sniper, which lasted... 15 minutes. It was this episode, according to Beevor, that was inflated to the scale of the legend about the dramatic battle between Zaitsev and Major Koenings, whom no one had ever heard of, allegedly sent to eliminate the Soviet sniper.

At the end of his memoirs, Zaitsev writes about the injuries received at the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. He lost his sight from German shrapnel and spent a lot of effort trying to restore it. He was not allowed to return to the front in order to preserve such a vivid example of Soviet patriotism, and the famous sniper began to train new generations of soldiers. The manuals he wrote are still used in Russian military schools. At the end of the war, Zaitsev was demobilized with the rank of captain and worked at a textile factory in Kyiv, constantly remembering combat missions. He died ten days before the collapse of the USSR, he is buried on Mamayev Kurgan, where fierce fighting took place. Perhaps even now the spirit of the great shooter continues to observe his objects from there among the ruins of Stalingrad that have dissolved in time.

Lurking Death

Other famous snipers include:

- Finn Simo Haiha ("White Death"), the best sniper of all time, who killed 505 Soviet troops during the Finnish-Soviet War (he did not use a telescopic sight).

Vasily Zaitsev is one of the best snipers of the Second World War, who destroyed more than two hundred German soldiers in a month and a half. Zaitsev's legendary confrontation with the German supersniper would later be called the most famous sniper duel of the war.

In the barricades of Stalingrad

Since childhood, Vasily Zaitsev has been hunting, and at the age of twelve he received his first rifle as a gift. It was thanks to hunting that Zaitsev realized that a sniper must be invisible. The ability to camouflage has always been a top priority for him. The shooter’s extraordinary composure and composure also played a role. In addition, Vasily was also physically gifted: an eagle eye, a good ear and endurance did not leave a single chance for an enemy who came under his sight.

Zaitsev went to the front as a simple soldier, he did not immediately become a sniper. Several times he fought in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy and even received a bayonet wound, but he never left the ranks. In the very first battles, Zaitsev proved himself to be an excellent shooter. He hit an enemy soldier at a distance of 800 meters with a simple three-line rifle. A month later in the battle, Vasily was awarded the medal “For Bravery.”

According to the site, by that time Zaitsev had killed 32 enemy soldiers with a rifle without a sniper scope. But his main award was a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight, which was awarded to him along with the medal. Almost immediately, the fame of the invincible sniper spread on all fronts. With his name, Zaitsev inspired Soviet soldiers and spread fear among the Germans.

Legendary sniper duel

In order to somehow maintain the morale of the soldiers and reduce the activity of Soviet snipers, the German command decided to send the head of the sniper school, Major Erwin Koenig (according to other sources, Heinz Thorwald, Koenig was probably the call sign). He received orders to kill the “chief Russian sniper.” The Soviet command, concerned about this fact, instructed Zaitsev to defeat the German supersniper at any cost.

“I knew the handwriting of German snipers. I easily distinguished more experienced shooters from beginners by their ability to camouflage and shooting tactics,” the Soviet sniper later recalled. For a long time, Zaitsev could not understand which of the German shooters was the same Koenig. But there was one story. Snipers Morozov and Shaikin were wounded by a well-aimed shot. They were considered experienced snipers and often emerged victorious in difficult and difficult battles with the enemy. There was no doubt - the Russians were faced with a fascist super sniper, whom Zaitsev had been looking for for so long.

Zaitsev, together with Nikolai Kulikov, took the position where Morozov and Shaikin had previously fired. They knew every hill, every stone in this area. Zaitsev’s attention was drawn to a pile of bricks and a sheet of metal lying about a kilometer away from them. This is where a German sniper could be hiding. Nikolai Kulikov was waiting for the order to fire in order to attract the enemy’s attention. Meanwhile, Zaitsev watched. The whole day went by like this.

Before dawn, the warriors set out to ambush again. Zaitsev was in one hole, Kulikov was in another. A fishing line was stretched between them to transmit a signal. Time passed extremely slowly. Planes buzzed overhead, shells and mines exploded. Suddenly Zaitsev caught a slight movement of a metal sheet. He was sure that the enemy was hiding there.

Zaitsev pulled the rope. A friend's shot rang out. The repeated movement confirmed Zaitsev’s assumption - the fascist was under the metal sheet. Now they had to take him into their sight. So as not to scare away the enemy. Zaitsev and Kulikov changed their positions.

They watched all night and half of the next day. And during the day, when the enemy position was in direct sunlight and our riflemen's rifles were in the shadows, the sniper duo took action. Something sparkled at the edge of the metal sheet. A random piece of glass? No, it was the optical sight of a fascist sniper rifle.

Kulikov began to lift his helmet as carefully as an experienced sniper could. A shot followed. The helmet fell. The German apparently decided that he had killed the Soviet sniper, whom he had been hunting for four days. Deciding to check the result of his shot, he stuck out half his head. And then Zaitsev pulled the trigger. The shot hit the target. The German supersniper was hit.

After military service

The command congratulated Vasily on the victory and assigned his group a new important task. Zaitsev and thirteen other soldiers needed to stop the German advance on one of the sections of the Stalingrad front. Zaitsev practiced new combat tactics with this target group - hunting. The mission was completed successfully, but in the battle the Soviet rifleman was seriously wounded. The worst thing happened - Zaitsev lost his sight. After several operations, vision was partially restored, and on February 10, 1943, Zaitsev returned to the front again.

Snipers of the 62nd Army, inspired by the exploits of their comrade, defeated more than six thousand German soldiers. During the war, Zaitsev published two books on snipers, and also developed a sniper tactic called "sixes".

In continuation of the topic of the article, read also about.

(UNDER DEVELOPMENT.)

Today, January 31, 2006, is the eve of the 63rd anniversary (which will be February 2nd) victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, 15 years after the death of the ashes of the legendary Stalingrad sniper Vasily Grigorievich Zaitseva was solemnly transferred from the Lukyanovsky War Memorial Cemetery in Kiev and reburied with appropriate military honors in Volgograd on the Mamayev Kurgan at the foot of the main monument “The Motherland Calls!” ", on the third turn of the serpentine hill next to the graves of the chairman of the Stalingrad City Defense Committee Alexei Semenovich Chuyanova(1905-1977), lieutenant colonel, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, bomber pilot Vasily Sergeevich Efremova(1915-1990) [nearby are also the graves of Colonel General, Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Stepanovich Shumilova(1895-1975) and Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Chuikova(1900-1982).] A February 2nd A tombstone and a stone slab will be installed at the grave of Vasily Zaitsev. By the same date, the city youth organization “New People” will re-issue V. G. Zaitsev’s book “There was no land for us beyond the Volga. Notes of a Sniper" (the very first edition was published in 1956) (Internet links to the book are given in this note).
It was V.G. Zaitsev who wrote the words that became the nerve, the heart of the entire Battle of Stalingrad: “ There is no land beyond the Volga for us! "(For us, the soldiers and commanders of the 62nd Army, there is no land beyond the Volga! We have stood and will stand to the death!"). These words are immortalized on the end of the left wall of the Mamayev Kurgan memorial:

In the photo: The words of Vasily Zaitsev, immortalized on Mamayev Kurgan.
Source: http://www.1tv.ru/owa/win/ort6_main.main?p_news_title_id=85639(video frame).

The same words are engraved on the grave of Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev in Kyiv, repeating the title of his book - “There was no land for us beyond the Volga”:

In the photo: The grave of V. G. Zaitsev at the Lukyanovsky War Memorial Cemetery in Kyiv
(even before its destruction after the exhumation of the remains of V.G. Zaitsev in 2005?).
At the grave is Zinaida Sergeevna, widow of V.G. Zaitsev.
Source:.

Vasily Zaitsev became the founder and pioneer of the sniper movement (its active and effective use at the front). The Battle of Stalingrad is precisely characterized by the intensity and intensity of the use of snipers.
Zaitsev created his own sniper school, taught soldiers and officers sniper skills right on the front line (including taking them into ambushes for two or three days) and wrote two textbooks there, and after being wounded, while recovering, he went to Moscow to share his experience sniper with the High Command - in and at the Institute for the Study of the Experience of the Great Patriotic War to Professor Isaac Izrailevich Mintsu(- yrs.). Twenty-eight graduates of Zaitsev’s sniper school were jokingly called “hares” (in foreign languages ​​they call it “zaichata” with the explanation “leverets” or “baby hares”), and the students were already his student - Viktor Ivanovich Medvedev- “bear cubs”. V.I. Medvedev even surpassed his teacher in the number of Nazis killed and, like V.G. Zaitsev, received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. V.G. Zaitsev himself - it is confirmed - in Stalingrad alone he personally destroyed 225 fascists (and in total - 242 Nazis, the unofficial count goes over half a thousand), including 11 enemy snipers. And this is only the so-called “personal account”, the number of “simply” (that is, without documentary confirmation by outside observers) killed and wounded in the general battles of the Nazi invaders is much greater. (Thus, during the entire war, Vasily Zaitsev probably exterminated more than a thousand fascists.)
After the war (demobilized in 1945), Vasily Grigorievich settled in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. After his death (in 1991), his last will, noted in his will, to be buried along with his comrades on Mamayev Kurgan, as it happened, could not be fulfilled, since Ukraine hastily sought to disown “communism”, Russia and its “ambiguous "of the past," and the Volgograd authorities simply ignored the request.
The reburial of the hero became possible only now thanks to the cares and efforts of his wife, Zinaida Sergeevna, whom he met and married in Kyiv. In Kiev, he was first the commandant of the Pechersky district, then worked as the director of a machine-building (sometimes written as an auto repair) plant, director of the "Ukraine" clothing factory, then headed the technical school of light industry.
In May 2005, Zinaida Sergeevna, through acquaintances, handed over a letter to the administration of Volgograd with the opportunity (according to the mayor of Volgograd E.P. Ishchenko, on May 9, during the celebrations on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Victory, an elderly woman gave him an envelope), in which, in in particular, it was said: “ My husband Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev - the legendary sniper of the Battle of Stalingrad, Hero of the Soviet Union - died on December 15, 1991. The time was difficult, there were continuous strikes in the city, obviously this affected communications. We sent a telegram, which you obviously did not receive, i.e. no one came or called. I had to bury him in Kyiv, despite the fact that he asked me to bury him in Stalingrad. To this day I worry that I did not fulfill his request... But the trouble is that I am already 92 years old, have little time left to live, and I am tormented by my conscience that I did not fulfill his request. I will be gone, no one will look after his grave. It's painful and offensive - but that's how it is. I beg you, do everything you can to rebury him on Mamayev Kurgan, next to his friends and comrades. He deserved it.
For ten years I was silent... But every year it pains me more and more to realize that no one needs him in Kyiv except me, and I don’t have much left. Once again I ask you to fulfill his request, his last request, and ease my soul - let me die in peace...».
Unfortunately, Zinaida Sergeevna herself was unable to come to Volgograd for the reburial ceremony, but she plans to come on May 9, 2006. But from Kyiv veteran organizations there was a participant in the Battle of Stalingrad, secretary of the writers committee of the Council of War and Labor Veterans of Kyiv, executive secretary of the Union of Friendship of the Hero Cities of the CIS and the Hero City of Kyiv Emilia Ivanovna Ivanchenko(b. 1926).
Earlier, on April 25, 1951, V. G. Zaitsev’s sniper rifle was also transported from Kyiv to Stalingrad [from the state historical museum Kyiv to the current (since 1982) Volgograd State Panorama Museum “Battle of Stalingrad”]. In 1945, after the Victory, this rifle became personalized - on behalf of the Soviet command it was solemnly presented to Vasily Zaitsev in defeated Berlin; a plate with the inscription was attached to the butt of the rifle: “To the Hero of the Soviet Union, Guard Captain Vasily Zaitsev. He buried more than 300 fascists in Stalingrad.” From January 31, 2006, a separate exhibition will be dedicated to V. G. Zaitsev in the museum, where his summer and winter uniforms, photographic documents, personal belongings, military awards and personal sniper accounts, introduced in December 1942. (It is planned that in the future this exhibition will grow and will be dedicated not only to V.G. Zaitsev, but to the entire sniper movement, especially the period of the Battle of Stalingrad.)

In the photo: V. G. Zaitsev’s sniper rifle.
Source:
http://volganet.ru/fstl0202.php ,
link ).

Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev has the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, was awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and medals. Vasily Zaitsev is forever assigned to one of the military units that was previously stationed in the GDR. A motor ship, streets in many cities, cups of sniper shooting competitions are named after V.G. Zaitsev, many institutions bear his name.

Photos and images of Vasily Zaitsev:

Source:
http://bratishka.ru/archnumb.php?statnum=2002_7_3[or like this: (direct link) from here: (link)].

Photos taken no earlier than February 22, 1943
(possibly in Moscow after the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union).

http://www.uralpress.ru/show_article.php?id=88172
[large photo: (link) (direct link)];
http://www.sovross.ru/2005/36/36_3_5.htm .

The image on the left is a front-line drawing of junior lieutenant V. G. Zaitsev,
made by a non-professional artist
Evgeny Ivanovich Komarov.
Inscription [some parts are difficult to read from the photograph of the drawing]:
“[inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] (perhaps “Hero of the Soviet Union”?)
Jr. Lieutenant Zaitsev [inaudible] [inaudible]
The sniper who destroyed [inaudible, perhaps the word “from above”?] 2 [second and third numbers - 38 or 98?] Nazis
Stalingrad, [inaudible, perhaps 9?] January 1943."
(V. G. Zaitsev became a Hero of the Soviet Union not in January, but on February 22, 1943)
Sources (from left to right, and if the browser does not display it, then from top to bottom):
http://panorama.volgadmin.ru/front_ris.html ,
direct image link: (link);
http://militera.lib.ru/h/stupov_kokunov/ill.html ,
direct link to image: (link).

In the photo: V. G. Zaitsev (far left), October 1942.
Source:
http://www.weltkrieg.ru/weapons/mosin ,
direct link to photo: (link).

Photographs by V. G. Zaitsev, taken in October 1942.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Grigoryevich_Zaitsev ,
direct link to large photo: (link);
.

Photograph by V. G. Zaitsev, apparently taken after February 1943
(there is one star on the shoulder straps, which apparently corresponds to the rank of junior lieutenant).
Source:
http://airaces.narod.ru/snipers/m1/zaitsev1.htm .

In the photo: V. G. Zaitsev (far right).
Second from the left is possibly (!) the commander of the 62nd Army, Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov.
Winter 1942/1943
Photo provided, possibly, by the Magnitogorsk Museum of Local Lore
[this possibility follows from the fact that the museum is mentioned in the article from which the photo was taken (see "Source")]
[IN. G. Zaitsev was born in the village of Eleninsky, located near Magnitogorsk
(since 1937 the village of Eleninskoye according to the administrative division
entered the Agapovsky (neighboring Magnitogorsk) region Chelyabinsk region)].
Photo source:
http://www.uralpress.ru/show_article.php?id=88205
[large photo: (link) (direct link)].

In the photo: V. G. Zaitsev (far left) with students (as an instructor).
Source:
http://airaces.narod.ru/snipers/m1/zait_vg.htm
(or here: http://www.lowfirthshire.net/cine/zaitsev.html).

In the photo: Sniper V. G. Zaitsev.
(The photographs were taken no earlier than 1943, most likely several years after the war.)
Sources (from left to right, and if the browser does not display it, then from top to bottom):
http://airaces.narod.ru/snipers/m1/zait_vg.htm ;
http://www.redut.ru/sniper/ (section “Photo gallery”).

Source:
http://www.aif.ru/online/aif/1317/63_01?print ,
Photo from personal archive Zinaida Sergeevna, widow of V.G. Zaitsev.

Sources (from left to right, and if the browser does not display it, then from top to bottom):
http://www.inter-volgograd.ru/second.shtml?id=3180&number=218 ;
http://nm.md/daily/article/2005/02/11/0000.html .

Sources (from left to right, and if the browser does not display it, then from top to bottom):
http://www.notesofasniper.com/portrait.htm[or like this (worse quality)]: (link);
http://volginfo.ru/mkv/2006/4/4 .

About the solemn ceremony of reburial of the ashes of V. G. Zaitsev on Mamayev Kurgan:
.

Feature films about Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev:
“Angels of Death” (1993, Russia-France). The original title was “Stalingrad”, coinciding with the title of the epic film “Stalingrad”, filmed four years earlier - in 1989 (to which German cinema responded in 1992 with its “Stalingrad”);
“Enemy at the Gates” (“Duel - Enemy at the Gates”) (2001, USA - Germany - UK - Ireland). A good selection of materials that once and for all debunk the deceitful concoction of the creators of this “film” is on the “Dark Side of America” website: http://usatruth.by.ru/duel.htm .

About Vasily Zaitsev in the press (his wife says):
- article by Nikolai Patzers « Last will Vasily Zaitsev "in No. 272 ​​(3658) for December 19, 2005 in "daily all-ukrainian newspaper""Kievskie Vedomosti". It tells about the bastardism of the Ukrainian side, which did not even bother to restore the grave of the hero Vasily Zaitsev, which was destroyed after the exhumation.
The granite fragments of the monument are piled up near the fence; they didn’t even bother to cover them anywhere (citing the lack of specially equipped premises for this) or with anything until spring, when, supposedly, weather conditions will allow cement work to be carried out to restore it. Most likely, no one is going to restore the memorial site (grave). [On the same subject "daily all-Russian newspaper"“New news" in the article (dated 02/03/2006) by Stanislav Anishchenko with the title “Bring Back Private Zaitsev” [the title is a vulgar contamination with the film “Saving Private Ryan” (1998, USA)] reports: “ ...I had to face problems of a different nature. Authorities in the Ukrainian capital told the widow that since Zaitsev’s remains were being moved, she was deprived of the right to be buried next to her husband’s former grave. The Volgograd mayor's office was forced to buy a place in the cemetery in order to guarantee Zinaida Sergeevna the right to be buried at the site of her husband's grave in Kyiv".] In a word, bastards.
And here, according to the widow Zinaida Sergeevna, is the history of the Zaitsev family: “ They met after the war, when he worked as the director of an auto repair shop.[V official biographies more often they write - machine-building, maybe the plant was originally an auto repair plant, and later developed into a machine-building plant?] plant in Podol, and she was the head of special production at the Glavpischemash machine-building plant, which even produced bomb casings. We met often at meetings, but showed no signs of attention. In 1953, when Vasily Grigoryevich was already working as the chairman of the Podolsk district party committee, and Zinaida Sergeevna was the head of the regional committee department, they arranged a showdown in the Central Committee for her anonymously. She was sitting in her office, not herself, and suddenly Vasily came in, calmed her down and said: “Marry me, and no one will touch you.” In response, she joked: “And I’ll go out.” After some time, Zaitsev called her and asked her to come over during her lunch break to resolve a few issues. A woman was sitting in his office. Vasily Grigorievich immediately suggested: “Well, let’s sign - here is the head of the registry office.” So they got married. And they lived in peace and harmony for 38 years" In life, Vasily Zaitsev was just as militant as he was at the front during the war, and he did not give offense to his wife.
And one more not-so-famous episode of his military biography: “ At the front, Vasily received several serious wounds in the leg and chest. Once in Stalingrad, he and a friend played a prank on enemy soldiers by tying a watch by a string and placing it on the road. The sniper did not even notice how the Fritz crept up to him and thrust his bayonet under his left shoulder blade, almost hitting his heart. Another time he lost his sight from being wounded. The academician could barely restore it Filatov, and Zaitsev returned to duty. Moreover, he not only accurately struck the enemy during the war years, but also preserved his aim until old age. Once at a shooting he was asked to show the young fighters his skills, and he, already 65 years old, wearing glasses, fired all three bullets into the “ten”. Why did you receive the cup?»;
http://www.aif.ru/online/aif/1317/63_01?print- article by Catherine Goryacheva « The Sniper's Will "in No. 04 (1317) dated January 26, 2006 of the weekly "Arguments and Facts", which is based on an interview with Zinaida Sergeevna, the widow of Vasily Zaitsev. Here is what, in particular, Zinaida Sergeevna said:
« - Zaitsev found out about awarding him the title of Hero by accident. When he was blown up by a mine and went blind, he was sent to Moscow. Operation was successfully completed. Somehow he was lying in the ward with other fighters, and on the radio they announced that “Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.” He completely ignored this, and a comrade in the ward jumps up to him and pats him on the shoulder: “Vaska, they gave you a Hero!”».
« - Few people know that Vasily Grigorievich is up to 75 years old[in the previous article “Return Private Zaitsev” it is written that at 65 years old - obviously, a typo here, in the article “Testament of a Sniper”] shot just as masterfully And ́, as during the Battle of Stalingrad. I remember once they invited him to evaluate the training of young snipers. When they fired back, the commander said: “Well, Vasily Grigorievich, shake off the old days.” Zaitsev takes the rifle, and all three bullets hit the bull's eye. Instead of the soldiers, he received the cup».

Biography of Vasily Zaitsev:
http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=481- biography of V. G. Zaitsev on the website “Heroes of the Country”. Excerpts: " During the war years, Zaitsev wrote two textbooks for snipers, and also invented the technique of sniper hunting with “sixes”, which is still used today - when three pairs of snipers (a shooter and an observer) cover the same battle zone with fire." Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that both on the page about V.G. Zaitsev and in the materials on the entire site there are many inaccuracies. For example, V.G. Zaitsev in his memoirs speaks of the “Elenovsky Village Council”, and the website states “the village of El And but”, although it may be Eleninsky. It further states that Zaitsev was born in "peasant's family", when how, in his own words, his “grandfather - Andrey Alekseevich Zaitsev, hereditary hunter” Zaitsev joined the navy not in 1936, as indicated on the website, but in 1937, which is also indicated in the memoirs. Etc.
http://militera.lib.ru/h/stupov_kokunov/06.html- information about Vasily Zaitsev in the fifth chapter “The Severe School of Combat Experience” of A.D.’s memoirs. Stupova and V.L. Kokunova“The 62nd Army in the Battles of Stalingrad” (the first edition was published no later than 1953) - it was in the 62nd Army that Vasily Zaitsev served. Sets forth short biography Zaitsev, some combat episodes of sniper practice are given verbatim, told both by Zaitsev himself and by other snipers;
http://militera.lib.ru/h/samsonov1/04.html- in the study of Alexander Mikhailovich Samsonova"Battle of Stalingrad" Briefly describes the origins of the sniper movement in Stalingrad and the contribution of V. G. Zaitsev to it;
http://www.kv.com.ua/index.php?rub=419&number_old=3658- episode from the memoirs of Mikhail Nikolaevich Alekseeva(b. 1918) “My Stalingrad”: (g.) “ At the most critical hour, the “Oath to Comrade Stalin” was taken. Its meaning was extremely simple: “We will die, but we will not surrender Stalingrad!” Oh, this was a special document! Under it were the signatures of all participants in the great battle - from privates to front commanders. It took tons of paper and two[aircraft] "Douglas" to forward the oath letter to Moscow, and then to the Podolsk military archive. The famous Stalingrad sniper Vasily Zaitsev later told me that a scout crawled to him, even in his secret hiding place, with a letter so that he, Zaitsev, would leave his signature on it. All political workers received the task: within one day, collect all the signatures in their units and subunits so that every Stalingrader would testify to his oath with his own hand." M. N. Alekseev is the author of the cycle of front-line prose “Soldiers” (1951) (this chronicle novel was put forward by K. M. Simonov for the Stalin Prize), the epic novel “The Cherry Whirlpool” (1961) (the film of the same name in 1985), the well-known story “Bread is a noun” (1964) [the series of the same name (1988) and the film “ Zhuravushka" (1968)], the novel in two books "The Uncrying Willow" (USSR State Prize 1976) [film "Russian Field" (1971)], etc.

Personal, human qualities of Vasily Zaitsev:
« I personally met with many famous snipers, talked with them, helped them in any way I could. Vasily Zaitsev, Anatoly Chekhov, Viktor Medvedev and other snipers were on my special account, and I often consulted with them.
These noble people were not particularly different from others. Quite the contrary. When I first met Zaitsev and Medvedev, I was struck by their modesty, leisurely movements, exceptionally calm character, and attentive gaze; they could look at one point for a long time without blinking. Their hand was firm: when shaking hands, they squeezed their palm as if with pincers“,” recalls Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (1900-1982) in the chapter “There is no land for us beyond the Volga!” "his memoirs "Battle of the Century" (1975), dedicated to heroic defense Stalingrad;
« Zaitsev tells the story calmly and slowly. He tries not to talk about himself, but listening to him, you understand why the whole army is proud of him. <…> Zaitsev utters words that became known to the whole world, which became the slogan of the entire struggle of the 62nd Army[“There is no land for us beyond the Volga!”]. He pronounces them without any pathos, simply, like the most ordinary words.
“We had great hatred for the enemy,” he continues[IN. G. Zaitsev]. - If you catch a German, you don’t know what to do with him, but you can’t - he’s as dear as a language. Reluctantly, you lead him.
We didn’t know fatigue. Now, as I walk around the city, I get tired, and then in the morning, at 4-5 o’clock, you have breakfast, at 9-10 pm you come for dinner and you don’t get tired. We didn’t sleep for three or four days, and we didn’t feel like sleeping. How can we explain this? This is how the situation already worked. Every soldier was just thinking about killing as many fascists as possible.”“, - this is a quote from the previously mentioned - fifth chapter “The Severe School of Combat Experience” of the memoirs of A. D. Stupov and V. L. Kokunov “The 62nd Army in the Battles of Stalingrad”;
« The face of the famous sniper Zaitsev seemed homely - a sweet, leisurely peasant guy. But when Vasily Zaitsev turned his head and squinted, the stern features of his face became obvious"- this is from the first part of the book by war correspondent and writer Vasily Semyonovich Grossman(1905-1964) “Life and Fate” (1960);
« Vasily was a fair-haired, short, stocky Ural hunter with incredibly clear blue eyes. <…> Vasily Grigorievich was easy to communicate with, open-hearted and with very strong nerves“says former guide of the Volgograd travel and excursion bureau, member of the board of the Volgograd-Cologne society Olga Vladimirovna Zayonchkovskaya;
« ...A very modest person. A very silent person. I have never stood in the front row when taking photographs", - Deputy Director for scientific work Volgograd State Panorama Museum "Battle of Stalingrad", candidate of art history Svetlana Anatolyevna Argastseva;
« He was the most modest person, you could talk about everything with him"- recalls the people's sculptor of Russia Viktor Georgievich Fetisov, who knew Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev well and, at his invitation, even visited his home in Kyiv.

INSTEAD OF AN AFTERWORD

You can often hear arguments that Vasily Zaitsev, supposedly, “didn’t specifically study sniper training anywhere,” that he is a kind of miracle nugget of the Russian land.
You need to know that Vasily Zaitsev began to be taken hunting from the age of 4, and at the age of 12 he began shooting with a gun and in fact was already an established hunter, and therefore a shooter, since the arrow determines knowledge, experience, his psychology, and skill “ “just shoot accurately” is as fruitless as the ability to heat a frying pan without understanding how to actually cook fried food in it. At the age of 15, he entered a construction technical school and graduated with honors. Then accounting courses, work as a senior insurance inspector. At the same time, naturally, he actively continued to hone his hunting skills. It was the skills acquired in hunting that helped V.G. Zaitsev to be so successful in the art of sniper.
There is only one conclusion from this - you need to be a professional in your field, and not wait for “charisma” and “unexpectedly discovered talent.” It is unlikely that a person worthless in peaceful life could become a worthy, powerful and formidable defender of his fatherland.

Fate is whimsical - Vasily Zaitsev, perhaps not being the most prolific sniper(he is not even in the top ten), but at the same time he became the most famous. Here, most likely, the fact that he was one of the first in the sniper movement, and at the same time was on the most difficult and responsible sector of the front - Stalingrad, played a role. In addition, he raised a galaxy of followers and created his own sniper school.

V. G. Zaitsev, among other things, won a brilliant victory in a duel with the head of the Berlin sniper school, Major Konings(Konings had 300 killed in battle).

Vasily Zaitsev was known not only for accurately hitting the Krauts between the eyes, but even more so for the fact that he sprouted, sharing his shooting skills and sniper tactics, in other snipers, and they, in turn, passed on this - and their - experience to others .

Before the front, Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev served in the Pacific Fleet (was), where he was drafted due to his short stature in 1937. [Where it is stated that he " from 193 6 year in Navy " - most likely a mistake, since his memoirs clearly indicate: " In 1937 I was drafted into the army. In general physical development, despite my small stature, I turned out to be suitable for service in the navy. What I was incredibly happy about" For those who do not understand this “glad” - at that time (incomprehensible to today’s degenerates) the one who for some reason (and “valid”) did not serve in the army, for the rest of his life in the eyes of the entire Soviet society for each of its members individually was perceived as something abnormal, defective, and even almost as a declassed element, a pariah.]
During the Battle of Stalingrad he became a sniper.
After being wounded in January 1943 by a mine and several eye surgeries performed on him in Moscow by the famous ophthalmologist V.P. Filatov (1875-1956), V.G. Zaitsev commanded a mortar platoon until the end of the war.
Thus, sniping for Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev was “just” a combat episode, but in it, too, the Soviet, Russian soldier revealed himself a hundredfold.

[Continuation (next, 2nd of 4 parts): .]

Vasily Zaitsev, legendary sniper, the hero of the Soviet Union about whom several films were made, was born on March 23, 1915 in the village of Elenkina, Orenburg province (Chelyabinsk region), into an ordinary peasant family. From early childhood he was taught to shoot a hunting rifle by his grandfather Andrei Alekseevich, and at the age of 12 he received a rifle as a gift.

Vasily's incomplete secondary education fit into seven classes, after which the guy entered the construction technical school in Magnitogorsk, which he graduated in 1930. In 1937, he entered service in the Pacific Fleet as a clerk in the artillery department. The Great Patriotic War found him at the post of head of the financial department in Preobrazhenie Bay.

In the summer of 1942, after several reports with a request to be sent to the front, Vasily Zaitsev ended up in the 284th Infantry Division. And in September 1942 he took part in the battle for Stalingrad.

From the very beginning, Vasily Grigorievich showed himself to be a skillful and extraordinary sniper; from a distance of 800 meters he could destroy three opponents at once from an ordinary soldier’s rifle. For his courage and outstanding sniper abilities he was awarded the medal “For Courage” and a sniper rifle. The fame of the outstanding sniper spread on all fronts.

Vasily Zaitsev combined many valuable qualities for a fighter and shooter: sensitive hearing, keen vision, endurance, composure and stratagem. Accurately choosing the best positions, he knew how to perfectly camouflage them and remain invisible to the Germans. In the battle for Stalingrad alone, he accounted for 225 killed Nazis, among whom were eleven snipers.

And the whole world knows about the victorious battle with the experienced German supersniper Heinz Thorwald, sent specifically to destroy Vasily Zaitsev. Since, in turn, Zaitsev was given the task of eliminating Torvald, which was carried out successfully.

In January 1943, the brave sniper was seriously wounded by a mine explosion during the disruption of the Nazi attack on a regiment of our troops near Stalingrad by Zaitsev’s group. He went blind and only after repeated operations with Professor Filatov was able to restore his vision. At the end of February 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Subsequently, Vasily Zaitsev led a sniper school, headed a mortar platoon and then commanded a company. I had the opportunity to take part in such high-profile battles as the battle for the Dnieper and the liberation of Donbass. Victory found the fighter in a Kiev hospital, where he was being treated after another injury. Vasily Zaitsev became the author of two teaching aids for snipers and one proprietary technique that is still used in sniper hunting - hunting with “sixes”, when three pairs of snipers (observers and shooters) cover the same battle zone.

When the Great Patriotic War ended, Vasily Zaitsev began to live in Kyiv and work as the commandant of the city district. At the same time I entered extramural All-Union Institute of Textile and light industry, then headed the Ukraina garment factory and directed the light industry technical school. Zaitsev was also invited to participate in testing the Dragunov sniper rifle.

Hero of the USSR Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev died on December 15, 1991, and was buried at the Lukyanovsky cemetery (Kiev), despite his last desire to find his final refuge in the land of Volgograd. His will was fulfilled only on January 31, 2006, when the ashes of the legendary shooter were reburied on Mamayev Kurgan (Volgograd).

Two films were made about the great sniper, hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Zaitsev feature films: “Enemy at the Gates” (2001, USA – Germany – Great Britain) and “Angels of Death” (2002, Russia). Also, a documentary film “Legendary Sniper” (2013, Russia) was shot about his biography.

Biographies and exploits of Heroes of the Soviet Union and holders of Soviet orders:

The future sniper, who became a legend during his lifetime, was born on March 23, 1915 in the village of Elino, Chelyabinsk Region, into a peasant family. The boy was named Vasily. From childhood, his grandfather taught his little grandchildren Vasily and Maxim to hunt. And when Vasily turned 12 years old, his grandfather gave him a gun as a gift. Subsequently, this weapon became a threat to all fascist invaders.

After studying in the 7th grade of a rural school, Zaitsev began his studies at the Magnitogorsk Technical School, from which he graduated at the age of 15 with a degree in fittings.

Zaitsev became a member of the Pacific Fleet in 1937. After studying at the Military Economic School, he was appointed to the position of head of the financial department. Soon he was caught by the terrible news about the beginning of the war.

Vasily was not going to sit in the accounting department while others gave their lives for the freedom of their native country. He submitted a report on enlistment in the fighting troops five times. Finally his requests were heard. In September 1942, Vasily went to war. Zaitsev was enlisted in the 248th division. Having completed accelerated courses in military operations in the city, Vasily Grigorievich became a participant in the Stalingrad meat grinder.

It was here that his talent as a marksman was fully revealed. Possessing excellent eyesight and excellent hearing, Vasily was very good at choosing places to fire. Once, from a distance of 800 steps, unimaginable at that time, with a simple rifle he was able to destroy three Nazis. Soon the commander of the 1047th regiment presented Vasily with the medal “For Courage”. An excellent addition to it was the sniper rifle. In just one war month, Zaitsev eliminated 225 German invaders. Including 11 snipers. The fight between our fighter and the head of the Berlin sniper school, won by Zaitsev, became famous (it was even filmed).

But the war spares no one. In the first winter month of 1943, while repelling an enemy attack on the regiment's position, Vasily was seriously wounded by a fascist mine. For some time he completely lost his sight, but thanks to the efforts of Professor Filatov, who performed several complex operations on Zaitsev in the capital, the already famous officer returned to duty. At the end of February 1943, Zaitsev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Also in 1943, he joined communist party THE USSR.

In the spring of 1944, Vasily Grigorievich returned to the active army again. During the war, Zaitsev fulfilled his duty in various positions. He ran a sniper school. During the war, two manuals were published from the pen of Zaitsev, which became guidelines for the training of riflemen. Later Vasily commanded a mortar platoon, and then a company. He became a participant in the liberation of Donbass from the Nazis, liberated Odessa, and crossed the Dnieper.

In the spring of 1944, while repelling a German attack, Vasily Grigorievich personally destroyed 18 Nazis and was again seriously wounded. This happened on May 10th. For the heroism shown in that battle, Vasily Zaitsev received the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

Zaitsev spent the victorious days of May 45 in the hospital. Zaitsev visited the defeated Nazi capital after the Victory. There he met his comrades and received a rifle, which today is an exhibit of the city defense museum in Volgograd.

When the war ended, Vasily Grigorievich remained to live in Kyiv and worked as the head of a mechanical engineering plant. For special services during the defense of Stalingrad and its liberation from the Nazis in the spring of 1980, V.G. Zaitsev became an Honorary Citizen of this hero city.

The famous sniper passed away on December 15, 1991. He was buried in Kyiv. And only in 2006 did Zaitsev’s last wish come true. On January 31, his remains were buried on Mamayev Kurgan - in the city where he became a legend.